[silence]
In this segment, we will not only learn how to disassemble and reassemble a
Ruger Mark III, but we will also learn some common pitfalls and how to avoid them.
The tools we will need are as follows.
Safety glasses.
A 7/32 non marring punch for removal of the bolt stop pen.
I would not recommend using a punch larger than 7/32.
What I did, I went to a home improvement store
and bought a wooden dowel specifically made out of oak. Because oak is a hard wood.
And I filed and sanded down .. until I got a 7/32 equivalent punch.
A rubber mallet.
A sturdy paperclip. Not one of the small ones, but a bigger one.
A hex key to remove the grips.
Scratch free mat.
And a cushioned pad. I just pulled this divider out of
one of my range bags. Because it has a nice, firm, dense cushion in it.
In order to understand the disassembly and reassembly of the Mark III,
let's take a close look at the parts we will be working with.
The frame. Also called the grip frame.
The barrel receiver.
And in the image you can see ..
which part is the barrel and which part is the receiver.
The bolt. Which also holds the recoil spring assembly,
and the firing pin stop pin.
The mainspring housing assembly.
Which consists of the bolt stop pin,
mainspring housing and latch.
The dimple in the mainspring housing is where the hammer strut goes.
Hammer. In this image you are seeing the hammer in the up position.
And in this image you're seeing the hammer in the down position.
Hammer strut. Which I was shorten to strut.
And the sear spring stop pen.
Which I was short to stop pen.
You'll want to become very familiar with the hammer,
the hammer strut and the sear spring stop pin. Because it is these three parts
that will give us the most trouble if we are not careful.
The barrel lug.
And the barrel recess that mates with the barrel lug.
One of the frustrating aspects of the disassembly and reassembly of the Mark III,
is various instruction material tells to hold the gun up, or down,
or pull the trigger three times and so on.
But they don't explain why we need to do this.
This video explains why.
As we disassemble and reassemble the gun,
we may find that the bolt won't come out, or won't go in,
or the mainspring housing won't come out, or won't go in.
The most common reasons we encounter these problems, are:
1. The hammer is up when it should be down.
2. Or the hammer is down when it should be up.
3. Or the strut is stuck behind the stop pin.
Instead of trying to memorize gun up or gun down. I find it more beneficial to ask myself ..
Where does the hammer and strut need to be positioned, in order to complete the next step?
By understanding this. We can figure out ourselves, how to position the gun.
So the hammer and strut go where we need them to go.
Understanding where the hammer and strut need to be for each step will relieve ..
a lot of frustration.
To start the disassembly, let's make sure the gun is safe.
Chamber is empty.
And there's no magazine.
And we're going to leave the safety in the firing position.
The first part of the gun we need to remove, is the mainspring housing.
But before we remove it, we ask ourselves, where does the hammer and strut need to be?
Since the mainspring housing .. connects to the hammer via the strut.
We need to relieve this connection in order to remove the housing.
To do this, we need the hammer in the up position.
To get the hammer in the up position, we simply dry fire the gun.
To dry fire the gun .. rack the bolt.
Insert an empty magazine.
Point the muzzle in a safe direction. And pull the trigger. We should hear a click.
This releases the pressure on the hammer and strut and ensures the hammer is now up.
Now we remove the magazine. And the grips.
Now we are ready to remove the mainspring housing assembly.
I use a sturdy paperclip. Loop it over the main spring latch.
And then pull the latch out.
Now we want to pull the mainspring housing out and up.
And holding the gun and the mainspring housing.
Place the punch against the bolt stop pin.
And using the rubber mallet, gently tap the punch to push the bolt stop pin out.
[hammering]
Once the bolt stop pin is sufficiently removed.
Grasp the mainspring housing and pull it down to complete its removal.
Now let me show you why, we do not want to use a punch larger than 7/32.
If we look down the bolt stop hole.
And let me show you a close-up of that.
You will see the distance between the back of the bolt stop hole.
and the recoil spring assembly is approximately .23 inches.
So, if you use a quarter inch punch, which is .25 inches,
you will actually be hitting the recoil spring assembly with the punch,
instead of the bolt stop pin.
The next step is to remove the bolt. To remove the bolt we first ask ourselves..
Where does the hammer need to be? The answer is, in the down position.
That way the bolt can come out.
Fortunately, removing the bolt, will push the hammer down for us.
But if we are not careful, as the hammer is pushed down,
we could push the strut behind the stop pin.
And this will prevent the hammer from going down.
Let's take a close look at where the strut needs to be.
In the image on the left,
the strut is above the stop pin, which is where it needs to be.
On the image on the right,
the strut is caught behind the stop pin.
And this will prevent the hammer
from being lowered.
For me, an easy way to ensure the strut does not get caught behind the stop pin.
Is by holding the gun upside down. And looking into the back of the frame,
and shake the gun gently until the strut falls flat.
Now we can remove the bolt.
Next, we will remove the barrel receiver.
Where does the hammer need to be?
The answer is down.
But when we removed the bolt, it already pushed the hammer down for us.
I used to use a mallet to separate the barrel receiver from the grip frame.
But when I did, it caused the barrel receiver to go skidding across my bench.
So what I do now, is hold the barrel receiver in one hand.
The grip frame in the other.
And I firmly tap the back of the receiver onto the pad.
It does not take a lot of force to separate them.
And make sure, you hold the gun at a slight angle, so you're not hitting the grip frame.
[silence]
Remember the two main problems we encounter during reassembly, is the hammer
and/or the strut being in the wrong position.
So let's make sure we keep an eye on those two parts.
First we're going to reassemble the frame and the barrel receiver.
Once again, we ask ourselves, where should the hammer and strut be?
The answer is, the hammer needs to be down. With the strut above the stop pen.
So holding the frame .. slightly up .. I'm going to push the hammer down.
I'll check and make sure, that the strut stays above the stop pin.
Now holding the barrel receiver in one hand.
And the grip frame in the other.
Slide the grip frame onto the barrel receiver.
So that the barrel lug .. goes into the recess .. on the barrel receiver.
[silence]
Make sure that the receiver is flat against the frame.
While holding both barrel and grip frame,
firmly tap the muzzle against the cushioned pad.
To fully seat the frame and barrel receiver.
When done properly, the barrel receiver extends past the frame by a small amount.
Let's take a close look at that.
[silence]
Next, we're going to install the bolt.
You want to check the bolt.
To be sure that the firing pin stop pin, is in the bolt.
This is not a part that usually comes out.
But if it does and you fire the gun without it. The gun will be seriously damaged.
Now check to be sure, that the recoil spring assembly is properly seated and aligned.
Let's take a close look at a proper alignment.
In the top image,
you'll see that the recoil spring assembly
is properly aligned with the bolt.
And in the bottom image,
they are not properly aligned.
If the recoil spring assembly is not aligned.
Just use your punch. And just get them aligned.
Now before we insert the bolt, we ask ourselves..
Where does the hammer and strut need to be?
Well, for the bolt to go in, the hammer has to be down,
and the strut, of course, needs to be above the stop pin.
They should already be in that position. But we want to double check
by looking into the back .. of the gun.
They're not, use the punch, reach into the back of the receiver.
And push the hammer down, while keeping the strut above the stop pin.
Keeping the gun level. Insert the bolt.
If the bolt does not go in,
it's probably because the bolt is not properly aligned with the receiver.
Look down into the bolt stop hole.
And make sure the recoil spring assembly is exactly in the middle of the hole.
Let's take a look at that.
[silence]
Fix any misalignment, just turn the bolt.
Force should not be needed to install the bolt.
Now we are ready to install the mainspring housing assembly.
But before we do, we ask ourselves, where does the hammer and strut need to be?
Since the mainspring housing is going up inside the gun.
We need to get the hammer and strut out of the way.
And this means they need to be in the up position. And I mean way up.
To do this, we insert an empty magazine.
Pull and hold the trigger. I also keep the bolt down.
And using the punch, reach inside the back of the gun.
And just push the hammer all the way up.
Now release .. the trigger. And remove the magazine.
Now install the bolt stop pin .. as far as we can.
[silence]
Then we use the mallet to finish installing it.
[hammering]
If you can see it, protrude through, you know it's fully installed.
Now you notice how the mainspring housing just easily drops inside the frame. That's actually a problem.
Before closing the mainspring housing, we ask ourselves, where does the
strut need to be in order for it to fit, to the mainspring housing dimple?
The answer is, the strut needs to be resting on the mainspring housing itself.
So it can slide into the dimple while closing the mainspring housing.
Let's take a close look at that.
[silence]
Holding the gun upside down, and looking into the back of the frame.
Tilt the muzzle up, and gently shake the gun,
until the strut falls and rests on the mainspring housing.
Keeping the gun upside down and the muzzle up.
Close the mainspring housing.
When done correctly ...
the housing will have some resistance to it.
If you do not feel this resistance, then the strut is not in the dimple.
You'll need to open the latch.
And reposition the strut until it rests on the housing.
Now let's close the latch.
Make sure the mainspring housing is flush with the grip.
Now let's check functioning.
Opens and closes.
The bolt release holds the bolt open, closes it.
And dry fires.
Safety works.
Finally, we just need to reinstall our grips and we are done.
I hope this video has been useful. And thank you for watching.
[silence for rest of video]